Interlocking jewelry ornament



Oct. 8, 1935. M. A. MAYER INTERLOCKING JEWELRY ORNAMENT Filed May 18,1955 Patented Oct. 8 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My present invention relates to the jewelry art, and has particularreference to the construction of rings, bracelets and the like.

Rings, bracelets, and similar ornamental jewelry has heretofore beendesigned to possess a distinctive ornamental appearance created in themind of the designer, whereby the completed article as sold has anappearance and a visual effect that cannot be altered or changed by theowner. It has thus become necessary to have many different designs,colors, and arrangements, to permit a choice and a selection of jewelrymost suitable for use with a particular dress or ensemble. It is theprincipal object of my invention to devise a jewelry construction thatpermits a wide latitude in changing effects to suit the appearance andmood of the user.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a construction thatpermits selective change in the size of the ornament as well as thecolor effect thereof.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a novel jewelryornamentation suitable for jeweled and for metal effects, and for anyselected combination thereof.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, myinvention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosedin the detailed description following, in

conjunction with the accompanying drawings and more specifically definedin the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the novel invention, as exemplified in afinger ring;

Fig. 2 is a side view of one ring base;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a side view of one intermediate ring element;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line B6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan View thereof;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a modified ring construction; and

Fig. 9 is an elevation of another modified ring construction.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like refer- 0 ence charactersdesignate similar parts, the novel ring arrangement l0 includes twosimilar ring bases ll, l2 and a plurality of intermediate ring elementsl3, the bases and elements being sep- 5 arable and free from each other,but having complementary contours facilitating nesting engagement whenpositioned on a finger.

Thus, referring to Fig. 2, the illlustrated bases each preferably have aplane edge l4, and an irregular edge I5 consisting of a plurality ofangularly related surfaces [6 forming alternate projections I l anddepressions 18. The intermediate elements, see Fig. 5, each have twoedges I9, 20 of complementary contour, each formed of angularly disposedsurfaces 2| forming alternate 1o projections 22 and depressions 23, thedepressions and projections of one edge being aligned with theprojections and depressions of the other edge. The edges of the basesand the intermediate elements are preferably perpendicular to their pe-15 ripheral surface, and their surfaces have complementary contours,whereby any selected number of intermediate elements may be nestedbetween the two bases to form an assembled composite ring. 20

The bases preferably have recesses 24 to receive stones 25, and theintermediate elements are grooved as at 26 to receive stones 21, wherebythe assembled ring presents an attractive appearance. The stones for theindividual elements 25 may be of different collective or individualcolors, whereby selected designs may be readily obtained by changing theintermediate elements, their relative positions, and their number,although stone-set elements are preferred, the intermedi- 3O ateelements may be plain or ornamented, and of any material and any color,whereby a very large number of individually selected arrangements arepossible. Moreover, the contiguous edges of the bases and of theintermediate ele- 35 ments may be cut to form interlocking parts of thetongue and groove type, to increase the joining effect.

Although the preferred arrangement utilizes edges with angularlydisposed surfaces, resulting 40 in a saw-tooth edge effect, any othercomplementary contours may be used, capable of obtaining the desiredinterlocking engagement, Thus, see Fig. 8, the bases 28, 29 and theintermediate elements 30 have wavy edges, as illus- 45 trated; and, seeFig. 9, the bases 3!, 32 and the intermediate elements 33 haverack-teeth edges, as illustrated.

The interlocking relation may obviously be applied to jewelry itemsother than rings, such as bracelets and the like, and may also be usedfor brooches, pendants, clusters, earrings, and similar articles. Thefingers, wrist and forearms serve as supports for the ring and braceletparts, which preferably are completely independent; other articles maybe provided with a suitable frame which permits ready mounting, removal,and replacement of the intermediate elements and the end bases. Althoughthe illustrated intermediate elements are of uniform cross section,constructions may, if desired, be utilized having nonuniform crosssection, to obtain unusual visual elTects.

Although specific bases and intermediate elements have been describedand illustrated, it is obvious that the shapes and widths of the bases,the widths of the intermediate elements, and their materials, thickness,and ornamentation, may be changed to for selective jewelry effects,without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A jewelry ornament comprising -a pair of end bases having outer edgesapproximately in planes extending transversely of the ornament andhaving the inner edges formed of regular alternate depressions andprojections, and one or more intermediate elements having opposite edgesformed of regular alternate depressions and projections interfittingwith the inner edges of the end bases.

suit any design requirements 2. A jewelry ornament comprising a pair ofcircular end bases having outer edges approximately in vertical planesextending transversely of the ornament and each having the inner edgeformed of regular alternate depressions and projections extending inseries relation circumferentially thereof, and one or more intermediateelements having opposite edges formed of regular alternate depressionsand projections interfitting with the inner edges of the end bases.

3. A jewelry ornament comprising a pair of circular end bases, havingouter edges approximately in vertical planes extending transversely ofthe ornament at right angles to the axis thereof, said bases having theinner facing edges thereof formed of regular reentrant angles, and oneor more intermediate elements having opposite edges formed of regularreentrant angles interfittingwith the inner edges of the bases.

4. A jewelry ornament comprising a pair of end bases having outer edgesapproximately in planes extending transversely of the ornament, and oneor more'interrnediate elements between the end bases, said end bases andintermediate elements having alternate interfitting depressions andprojections.

MAURICE A. MAYER.

